Communist Party (Alberta)

Infobox_Canada_Political_Party
party_name = Communist Party of Alberta
party_wikicolourid = Communist
status = active
class = prov
party_
leader = Naomi Rankin
president = none
foundation = 1930
dissolution =
ideology = Communism
headquarters = P.O. Box 68112
#70 Bonnie Doon P.O.
Edmonton AB
T6C 4N6
int_alignment= Solidarity Network
colours = Red
website = [http://www.communistparty-alberta.ca/ http://www.communistparty-alberta.ca/]

Communist Party of Alberta is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada.

History

The party was created some time around 1930. The party has been a very minor force in Alberta's traditionally conservative provincial politics, it achieved its best results in the 1940s with a couple of distant second place finishes. In those elections, it called itself the "Labour Progressive Party" because the name "Communist" had been banned by the federal government. The party started using the Communist name again in 1963.

The Communist Party first ran in the Edmonton by-election of January 9, 1931. It contested two more by-elections after that, the last of which was a by-election held on October 7, 1937 in the Edmonton electoral district in which Jan Lakeman Leader of the Communists finished third. The party has not contested another by-election since.

While the Communist Party had marginally better results under the old Single Transferable Vote system that Alberta used between 1926 and 1959, its candidates rarely ever made it past the first vote transfer.

The Communist Party was less successful than other left wing parties in the province, such as the Labour Party and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. In the 1975 provincial election, the Communist Party split the far left wing vote with the Constitutional Socialist Party.

The Communist Party did not run in the 1967 and 1971 elections. The party has managed to run at least one candidate in every general election since then. In recent years, the Communist Party has not been able to attract more than a couple candidates with vote totals that rarely top 100 in each electoral district contested.

The Alberta Communist Party is a full provincial wing of the federal Communist Party of Canada.

Party leaders

*Jan Lakeman 1930 - ?
*James A. MacPherson ? - ?
*Norman Brudy 1986? - 1992
*Naomi Rankin 1992 - Current

Election results by year

General elections

By-elections

External links

* [http://www.communistparty-alberta.ca/ Communist Party of Alberta]

Alberta provincial political parties